Beers with a view!

Surrey based Hogs Back Brewery is opening a new Summer Bar overlooking its hop garden on Friday, 10 July. The bar, based in a converted hop hangar, with indoor and outdoor tables, will offer drinkers the chance to enjoy a pint of brewery-fresh local beer with views of the growing hop bines, while robust social distancing and hygiene measures will ensure customer and staff safety.

The Summer Bar will be open on Friday and Saturday evenings from 6.00 to 10.00 during July, with additional trading days planned for later in the summer. Guests reserve their table on the Hogs Back website, and pre-pay for a flagon of beer (3.5 pints), which they choose on arrival from: Hogs Back’s flagship TEA (Traditional English Ale), Surrey Nirvana Session IPA, Hogstar lager, Hog IPA, Hazy Hog cider or its newly-launched East Coast IPA. Local food stands will also be in place, offering a changing range of food options over the summer.

Table service operates throughout the bar, and guest arrival times are staggered to maintain social distancing. At a trial run of the new bar for Tongham TEA Club members on Saturday 4 July, Hogs Back served more than 200 guests over the course of the evening.

Rupert Thompson, Hogs Back owner and managing director, said: “We think our Summer Bar is the ultimate pub garden – where else can you enjoy a pint of beer overlooking the hops that are used in our beers, just yards from the brewhouse where they are brewed. Hopefully, we have plenty of balmy summer evenings ahead so guests can sit outside and watch the hop bines flourish until harvest in September.

“We were delighted with our trial run on Saturday, with our loyal TEA Club members enjoying their first pint of ‘proper’ draught beer for 14 weeks. Operating under the Covid-19 guidelines clearly presents some challenges, but everything went smoothly and we will of course continue to prioritise the safety of our customers, while also creating as sociable an atmosphere as possible.”

He added, “For those who are still feeling cautious about venturing to our bar, or the pub, we’re continuing to offer our beers via our Contact-free Drive Through service at the brewery or home delivery, including brewery-fresh draught beers, to thousands of addresses in Surrey.”

Opening times are likely to extend once staff and customers adapt to the new systems, please check details at www.hogsback.co.uk.